Water is the predominant component of the human body, and in fact of all living things. It is an essential participant in metabolic and synthetic processes in the body. There has been much speculation on how water interacts with cellular components, and many authors have speculated that water may in fact change structure and function once it has been taken into tissues and cells (see, e.g., Benal and Fowler, Trends Biochem. Sci. 8: 1, 1983; Stillinger, Science 209: 4455, 1980; Frank and Wen, Proc. R. Soc. Lond., 1980: A247, 1981; Franks, Water, A Comprehensive Treatise, London, 1981).
In connection with the possible alteration of water's structure, it has been shown (Bernal and Fowler, supra) that an equilibrium exists in water between the (H.sub.3 O).sup.+ and (OH).sup.- structures, in the absence of an ordering electric field. It has been more recently shown (RO 88053/1987; RO 88054/1987; and RO 109835/1995) that if a polarizing electrical field is passed through the water, the equilibrium is destroyed, and the two component ions begin to move independently. Therefore, the generation of this electric field between two electrodes results in a "structuring" process in water, wherein the R.sup.- H.sup.+.sub.n structures, in which R.sup.- represents a polymeric radical, migrates in the direction of the positive electrode, accumulating as "acid water"; similarly, the R.sup.+ (OH).sup.-.sub.n components migrate toward the negative electrode, giving rise to "basic water". Many phenomena may contribute to the structuring of water, and aqueous solutions, including alignment of the dipole moments of water molecules, transport of existing charges in solutions toward the electrodes, magnitude of the applied potential difference, influence of the nature, size and shape of the electrode surface, and H.sup.+ and OH.sup.- tunneling. Whatever the influences resulting in structuring, however, the structured (or "activated") water is defined as water that contains stabilized clusters of ions. The acid fraction is alternately referred to as structured water I (or "I water") containing stabilized clusters of R.sup.+ (H).sup.- (Cl.sup.-, PO.sub.4.sup.3-, SO.sub.4.sup.2-) ions. The basic fraction is alternately referred to as structured water S (or "S water") which contains stabilized clusters of R+(OH)-n (Ca.sup.2+, Mg.sup.2+, Na.sup.+, K.sup.+, etc.) ions. To further distinguish the two types of water, I water is characterized by a conductivity C(.mu.S/cm) of about 900-2500 and pH of about 1.9-2.5; S water is characterized by a conductivity C(.mu.S/cm) of about 400-1500, and a pH of about 10.5-12, each resulting from tap water with C(.mu.S/cm) of about 330, and a pH of about 7.4.
Substantial differences are found among the UV spectra of I, S, tap and deionized water, particularly in the 200-250 nm band. When their reactivities are measured in an electronographic field, I, S and tap waters also show significant differences. In particular, for tap water, the total light flux after electronographic stimulation has a positive impulse I.sup.+ substantially equivalent to it negative impulse I.sup.- '. For structured water, the S water stimulated in the same way in positive impulse shows a very high light reactivity, whereas the negative impulse reactivity is almost equivalent to that of distilled water, yielding a positive to negative ratio of greater than 1; in contrast, the reactivity of the I water samples shows a high negative impulse, with a positive impulse approximately equivalent to distilled water, the ratio of positive to negative being less than 1. Different biological properties have been suggested for each type of water. These demonstrated differences in structure between the two types of structured waters have been said to correlate with their biological activities: S water is said to have a stimulatory effect on enzymatic and other biosynthetic processes, whereas I water is said to be inhibitory of the same processes.
Structured water has been disclosed for use in cosmetic compositions previously, in, for example RU 107544, RU 107545 and RU 107546, which relate to the use of I water in specific cosmetic products, for the treatment of oily skin, dry skin, or acne. However, a specific biological effect has not been attributed directly to I water in such compositions. It has now been discovered that the use of different structured waters can have beneficial effects on the performance of actives in compositions for topical application to the skin.